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A review by petealis
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford
5.0
I went back and forth between 4 and 5 stars on this one, but what the heck, I thoroughly enjoyed it, it gets 5.
The concept of this book—that generational trauma exists to the point that the memories of our ancestors could be extrapolated from our brains—is downright kooky, and as I have before as a fantasy lover, I find myself thinking that the fake science would play better as a magic system. Partly because of that—and partly because Dorothy was my least favorite of the narrators—Dorothy’s plot line was the least interesting to me, which unfortunate with it being the core of the plot.
But it was well done. I do nonetheless like the concept, at least in that the trauma our ancestors have been through stays with us and continues to help shape who we are. Without getting too much into the science I loved the feel of the generational echoes, all these women folding into one another, linked through time by lineage. Many of the individual stories were just captivating, beautiful on their own as little historical short stories but enhanced by each other. I think the author did a decent job handling the sheer number of them, and it was sweet how it all wrapped with Annabel at the end. Altogether, it was a gorgeous read.
The concept of this book—that generational trauma exists to the point that the memories of our ancestors could be extrapolated from our brains—is downright kooky, and as I have before as a fantasy lover, I find myself thinking that the fake science would play better as a magic system. Partly because of that—and partly because Dorothy was my least favorite of the narrators—Dorothy’s plot line was the least interesting to me, which unfortunate with it being the core of the plot.
But it was well done. I do nonetheless like the concept, at least in that the trauma our ancestors have been through stays with us and continues to help shape who we are. Without getting too much into the science I loved the feel of the generational echoes, all these women folding into one another, linked through time by lineage. Many of the individual stories were just captivating, beautiful on their own as little historical short stories but enhanced by each other. I think the author did a decent job handling the sheer number of them, and it was sweet how it all wrapped with Annabel at the end. Altogether, it was a gorgeous read.